St. Catherine of Alexandria

Lk 21: 12-19

“But before all this occurs, they will arrest you and persecute you; they will hand you over to synagogues and prisons, and you will be brought before kings and governors because of my name. This will give you an opportunity to testify. So make up your minds not to prepare your defense in advance; for I will give you words and a wisdom that none of your opponents will be able to withstand or contradict. You will be betrayed even by parents and brothers, by relatives and friends; and they will put some of you to death. You will be hated by all because of my name. But not a hair of your head will perish. By your endurance you will gain your souls.

Trust and Joy

When I was younger I loved to read. I would read almost anything I could get my hands on. Getting into a good book would take up hours of my time, time my other friends wanted to spend in different ways. Sitting with a book, for them, was painfully dull. I continued reading books, regardless of how lame my friends said it was. Reading brought me great joy and a sense of peace.

It can be difficult to keep doing something, even something you love, when those close to you disagree and put you down for enjoying it. But if you know something is good and if it brings you true joy it is worth suffering for, even when the suffering is brought on from those closest to you. Trust that Christ will give you the strength to persevere through the suffering needed to gain the greatest joy and peace of all, eternal life with Him.

Prayer

Lord, grant that I may see you more clearly,love you more dearly,follow you more nearly.

—St. Ignatius Loyola, Spiritual Exercises #104

Please share the Good Word with your friends!

St. Ignatius’s First Principle and Foundation says “The goal of our life is to live with God forever. God, who loves us, gave us life. Our own response of love allows God's life to flow into us without limit.” One of the ways in which we respond to the love God has given us is through prayer, not only personal prayer but community prayer as well.
The Pastoral Ministry Center invites members of our Strake Jesuit Community to share their prayers with us: their concerns, joys, thanksgivings, so that we may walk with them in all these times of their lives.

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St. Catherine of Alexandria

Lk 21: 12-19

“But before all this occurs, they will arrest you and persecute you; they will hand you over to synagogues and prisons, and you will be brought before kings and governors because of my name. This will give you an opportunity to testify. So make up your minds not to prepare your defense in advance; for I will give you words and a wisdom that none of your opponents will be able to withstand or contradict. You will be betrayed even by parents and brothers, by relatives and friends; and they will put some of you to death. You will be hated by all because of my name. But not a hair of your head will perish. By your endurance you will gain your souls.

Trust and Joy

When I was younger I loved to read. I would read almost anything I could get my hands on. Getting into a good book would take up hours of my time, time my other friends wanted to spend in different ways. Sitting with a book, for them, was painfully dull. I continued reading books, regardless of how lame my friends said it was. Reading brought me great joy and a sense of peace.

It can be difficult to keep doing something, even something you love, when those close to you disagree and put you down for enjoying it. But if you know something is good and if it brings you true joy it is worth suffering for, even when the suffering is brought on from those closest to you. Trust that Christ will give you the strength to persevere through the suffering needed to gain the greatest joy and peace of all, eternal life with Him.